New Zealand white-ball captain will play alongside Nathan Smith at The Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2025

Mitchell Santner played for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred last year•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Surrey have filled the main gap in their T20 squad with the signing of New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner for the majority of the Vitality Blast season. Santner is available for eight group-stage games and the knockouts in September, if Surrey qualify.Batting allrounders Dan Lawrence, Cameron Steel and Will Jacks were Surrey’s spin options in the Blast last year, but the addition of Santner brings them a frontline option with more than 200 appearances in the format. Surrey have been losing semi-finalists two years in a row, and have not won the trophy since its inaugural season back in 2003.Santner, who recently became New Zealand’s white-ball captain, will arrive in London after the IPL, where he is due to play for Mumbai Indians. He will miss the end of the group stages on international duty but should be available for the knockouts in September. He is also likely to feature in the Hundred again this year, having spent last season with Northern Superchargers.Related

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“I’m really looking forward to connecting with the players and coaching staff at Surrey,” Santner said. “I’ve heard quality things about the environment and have thoroughly enjoyed playing at the Kia Oval previously. I’ve been fortunate to play against many of the squad so it will be great to share the same changing room and play some entertaining cricket.”Alec Stewart, who remains involved with Surrey’s recruitment in his new role as a ‘high performance cricket advisor’, said: “Mitch will bring quality and experience to the Surrey side. He’s a proven international cricketer who plays T20 cricket all over the world and has built an excellent skillset.”Santner will play alongside his international team-mate Nathan Smith at The Oval, with Smith due to play in both the County Championship and the Blast from the start of May until the end of the season, around his New Zealand commitments.

Erling Haaland has been backed to break Cristiano Ronaldo's Champions League record after the Norwegian goal machine made a bright start for Manchester City in the 2025-26 campaign. Haaland has scored in every match for Manchester City this season, barring the Spurs clash, and has already registered nine goals to his name in seven appearances across all competitions.

• Haaland bags brace in Man City's win over Burnley

  Haaland starred with a brace and an assist on Saturday as City thrashed Burnley 5-1 at home. The Norway international has displayed stellar form for Pep Guardiola's side in the current season, after he experienced an injury-plagued 2024-25 campaign, when City's performances also plummeted. 

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• Getty/GOAL
  

  "He could break all sorts of records"

  Speaking to , former Scotland international Ally McCoist said: "The fact that we are talking about Erling Haaland potentially beating Cristiano Ronaldo’s [Champions League] record is crazy, I could never have seen Ronaldo's record being beaten, ever. But you have to say, if he stays injury free, he could beat that and all sorts of records. I'm even thinking to myself, Alan Shearer, not only does Alan Shearer want Harry Kane to stay at Bayern Munich, he wants Erling Haaland to go to Barcelona or Real Madrid. I know Al well, and he's a great lad, and he'll be looking at that record going, Jesus, somebody's coming for it. Somebody's coming for it. If he can keep himself fit. 

  "I've been really impressed with Haaland this season. Not just with his goals, but actually, his all-round play. When I say his all-round play, he's never going to be Zinedine Zidane. He's never going to take it in half turn, beat somebody, come back on, beat two players. That's not his game. But where I've really enjoyed him, surprisingly, I've enjoyed watching him defend. He's got back and he's won so many headers in his own box, proper team player, which is great to see."

  Ronaldo is the current top scorer in the history of the Champions League after netting 140 goals in the competition during his career.

• Man City "lost the fear factor a little bit"

  McCoist added: "But I'm just looking at his team Manchester City. I think they had lost the fear factor a little bit. I think they've actually recovered well, couple of defeats. I know I was at the game against Tottenham. But the one thing about City, if they do lose the fear factor, I think clubs will maybe open up and have a go at them, which will suit Haaland. 

  "His goal at Arsenal was a perfect example of that counter-attack where he wins the ball and keeps the run going. The pass was perfect and once he gets that ball out of his feet, you know he's finishing. I'm just thinking teams might get lulled in a little bit to having a go at City more than they would in recent years and I think that will suit Haaland."

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  Haaland & Ronaldo's record broken by Kane

  England captain Harry Kane became the fastest player to reach 100 goals for a club in Europe's top five leagues after he bagged a brace for Bayern Munich against Werder Bremen on Friday in the Bundesliga.

Glasgow Rangers made their way through to the play-off round of Champions League qualifiers with a 4-2 win over Viktoria Plzen on aggregate.

The Light Blues traveled away from Ibrox to play the second leg in Czechia on Tuesday night and lost 2-1, but it did not matter in the end thanks to their 3-0 win in Glasgow last week.

Russell Martin will not be happy with the nature of his team’s performance in this match, despite it not mattering overall in the tie, because there were several players who did not play to the best of their ability.

Djeidi Gassama made a lightning fast start to life at Ibrox with four goals in his first five matches, but it is fair to say that this was a step down from what supporters have already gotten used to from the winger.

Djeidi Gassama's performance against Viktoria Plzen

The overall team performance did not help the French forward, it must be said, but the former Sheffield Wednesday man failed to make a positive impact on the match.

In 87 minutes on the pitch, Gassama did not register a single shot on target or create any chances for his teammates, which shows that he offered very little, if anything, in the final third.

However, the 21-year-old talent did win four of his nine duels and completed two of his three attempted dribbles, as per Sofascore. He competed and tried to put himself around for the team, albeit it was coupled with ineffective play in the important part of the pitch.

Performance in Numbers

Want data and stats? Football FanCast’s Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.

Whilst Gassama was not at his bes in the final third in a fairly disappointing display, Mohamed Diomande was even worse than him in the middle of the park.

Why Russell Martin must drop Mohamed Diomande

Looking past the League Cup clash with Alloa at the weekend, Martin must ruthlessly drop the Ivorian midfielder from the side to face Club Brugge next Tuesday in the play-off round.

Diomande, who was handed a 4/10 player rating – lower than Gassama’s 5/10 – by IbroxNews, struggled with the physicality and intensity of the match in the middle of the park.

Viktoria Plzen’s players found it far too easy to get the better of him, which helped the home side to assert their dominance on the game, by winning five of their six duels against him, per Sofascore.

Minutes

68

Pass accuracy

90%

Ground duels won

1/5

Aerial duels won

0/1

Tackles + interceptions

1

Dribbled past

2x

As you can see in the table above, Diomande lost 83% of his duels across his 68 minutes on the park, and was dribbled past more times than he made defensive interventions.

These statistics show that he was a lightweight out of possession in midfield, whilst Lyall Cameron won three of his five duels and Nicolas Raskin won four of his seven battles, and that is why he was even worse than Gassama, who at least put himself about for the team and showed his strength on and off the ball.

Diomande was the weak link in the middle of the park next to his midfield partners, which is why Martin must consider ruthlessly ditching him from the XI when Club Brugge come to Ibrox, as Joe Rothwell is waiting in the wings to take his place next to Cameron and Raskin.

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It is now down to Martin to be ruthless with his decision-making by dropping the left-footed flop from the starting line-up for such a huge match against the Belgian outfit.

Now that the Alexander Isak debacle is over, Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe can get to work and make headway throughout the 2025/26 campaign.

While PIF’s intent was always to keep the Sweden international on the books this summer, Newcastle, having won last year’s Carabao Cup and qualified for the Champions League with a fifth-place Premier League finish, his obstinacy in forcing his way out of St. James’ Park made it a tricky situation to circumvent.

Luckily, the Magpies have pulled through with some shrewd dealings over the past couple of months, and Howe will feel that he has a squad fit to challenge, having replaced Isak and Callum Wilson with two new strikers.

Newcastle's centre-forward changes

Isak scored 27 goals across all competitions last season, including 23 in the Premier League, putting him behind only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

Replacing him was never going to be an easy task, but Howe must be content with the £50m addition of Yoane Wissa from Brentford, with the 28-year-old having posted 19 strikes across the 2024/25 campaign.

Wissa doesn’t have the depth of technical quality or range of weapons as Isak, but he should provide a consistent outlet in the final third.

And with Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade having also signed in a club-record £69m deal last month, Newcastle have the potential to refashion their frontline into something special.

Newcastle have signed one of the most exciting young forwards in world football, but the jury is very much out as to whether he will hit the ground running in the Premier League – not least after netting just 17 goals in 2024/25, only 12 of which came in the Bundesliga.

With Isak now gone, Howe may well rue the sale of another free-scoring Premier League forward a few years ago.

Newcastle must regret selling the original Wissa

Newcastle signed Chris Wood from Burnley in a £25m deal in January 2022, part of a shake-up after PIF swooped in and changed the Toon’s trajectory.

Where Are They Now

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Like Wissa, the one-time Leeds United man was a relative short-term solution, having moved to St James’ at the age of 30.

Like Wissa too, Wood had more than proven his Premier League credentials prior to making the switch, arriving in the North East after reaching double figures for league goals in each of his four full top-flight campaigns at Turf Moor.

In all, the 6 foot 3 striker netted 49 goals in 144 games for the Clarets in the top tier, a remarkably similar record to Wissa’s own return of 45 goals in 137 league games back in west London.

Unfortunately, Wood subsequently looked “a bit lost” during his time at the club, as pundit Tam McManus remarked at the time, only scoring five goals across his 39 appearances.

However, Wood has bounced back and then some with the Tricky Trees, sensational last season as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side qualified for Europe.

His 20-goal return surpassed both Wissa and Woltemade’s respective hauls, and given the consistency of his output in the Premier League, Howe may well regret having issued his sale so prematurely.

Wood’s Last 5 PL Season

Season

Apps

Goals (Assists)

25/26 (NFFC)

3

2 (0)

24/25 (NFFC)

36

20 (3)

23/24 (NFFC)

31

14 (1)

22/23 (NFFC)

7

1 (0)

21/22 (NUFC)

18

2 (0)

20/21 (NUFC

17

2 (0)

Stats via Transfermarkt

The towering talisman resurrected his career at the City Ground, but it goes to show that the quality was always there, and that he might have gone from strength to strength on Tyneside had he been given more time.

But the decision to sign Isak ended his chances of becoming a superstar in black and white.

Wood might be 33 now, but he’s showing little sign of slowing down, having bagged himself a brace on the opening day of the season as Forest beat Brentford 3-1.

Had he found his footing on Tyneside, the New Zealand native might have eased the drama of the past few months and then some, providing Howe’s side with a clinical outlet over these past few weeks, which have yielded little in terms of success in the final third.

Related As painful as Isak: Howe must regret selling "phenomenal" Newcastle talent

This former Newcastle star could have been a superstar in Eddie Howe’s system.

Posts ByAngus Sinclair Sep 2, 2025

يلتقي منتخب ألمانيا ضد أيرلندا الشمالية، في قمة المجموعة الأولى ضمن منافسات تصفيات أوروبا المؤهلة لبطولة كأس العالم 2026.

ويحتل منتخب الماكينات صدارة المجموعة الأولى في تصفيات كأس العالم بـ6 نقاط خلال 3 مباريات، من انتصارين وتعادل، وسجل الفريق 7 أهداف وأستقبلت شباكه 3 أهداف.

ويحتل منتخب أيرلندا الشمالية المركز الثاني برصيد 6 نقاط خلال 3 مباريات، من انتصارين وتعادل أيضاً، وسجل المنتخب 6 أهداف واستقبلت شباكه 4 أهداف.

ويأتي منتخب سلوفاكيا في المركز الثالث بـ6 نقاط، بفارق الأهداف، ومنتخب لوكسمبورج في المركز الرابع بدون أي نقاط.

اقرأ أيضًا.. “لم يحلم أن يصل إليه”.. سواريز يحقق رقمًا تاريخيًا في مباراة إنتر ميامي وأتالانتا

وكان منتخب ألمانيا قد حقق فوزًا كاسحًا ضد لوكسمبورج يوم الجمعة الماضية، برباعية نظيفة، ويطمح لفك منافسته مع منتخب أيرلندا الشمالية والانفراد بصدارة المجموعة.

أما منتخب أيرلندا الشمالية، فإنه يدخل المباراة بمعنويات عالية، حيث حقق الفوز ضد سلوفاكيا بهدفين نظيفين الجمعة الماضية، ويريد استغلال عاملي الأرض والجمهور. موعد مباراة ألمانيا وأيرلندا الشمالية اليوم في تصفيات كأس العالم

ستنطلق المباراة في تمام الساعة العاشرة إلا ربع مساء بتوقيت مصر والسعودية. معلق مباراة ألمانيا وأيرلندا الشمالية اليوم في تصفيات كأس العالم

تم إسناد مهمة التعليق في هذه المباراة للمعلق عصام الشوالي. القناة الناقلة لمباراة ألمانيا وأيرلندا الشمالية اليوم في تصفيات كأس العالم

من المنتظر أن تنقل المباراة عبر قناة bein Sports 1

 ويُمكنكم متابعة أحداث مباريات اليوم لحظة بلحظة من مركز المباريات من هنـــا

Former France captain Olivier Giroud has explained the key behind Ousmane Dembele’s Ballon d’Or success after admitting he never imagined his former France teammate would one day win the award. The Paris Saint-Germain forward capped off a remarkable season with 35 goals and a Champions League win, becoming the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner on Monday night.

From Barca flop to Ballon d’Or winner

Dembele’s career has had its ups and downs. At Barcelona, he struggled with injuries and inconsistency, leading many to doubt if he could ever live up to his price tag. But his move to PSG in 2023 proved decisive, as he regained form and fitness and became a key figure in their first-ever Champions League title win.

AdvertisementGiroud admits surprise after Dembele’s exceptional PSG season

Speaking to , Giroud admitted that while Dembele’s ability was never in question, he did not see him as a future Ballon d’Or winner during their time together with the French national team.

“Would I see him as a potential Ballon d'Or winner? It’s hard to say, but when I saw him every day in the French national team, no, I didn’t necessarily see it as a possibility,” the former France captain added.

“To win the Ballon d’Or, you have to have the talent, but also a good season. He has the talent, but he had to have a good season, at the right club, while winning everything. The Ballon d’Or always depends on collective successes.”

AFPDembele joins French greats with Ballon d’Or win

The PSG star became only the sixth Frenchman in history to lift the Ballon d’Or, following in the footsteps of Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema. In his career-best season, the Frenchman led his team to the Quintuple, scoring 35 goals and providing 16 assists. 

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Getty ImagesWhat's next for Dembele?

Dembele sat out PSG’s rescheduled Ligue 1 clash with Marseille on Monday as he continues to recover from an injury picked up during the international break. The winger is targeting a return this weekend, with hopes of being available for the club against Auxerre on Saturday.

Liverpool and Newcastle United have been at loggerheads for months, but a timeline for an agreement between the two clubs over the transfer of the summer may be fast approaching.

Alexander Isak's latest situation amid heavy Liverpool speculation

In a story that has twisted, turned and left everyone on the edge of their seats, Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak’s desire to join Liverpool and subsequent standoff with the Magpies has left Premier League fans desperate for a conclusion.

Earlier on Saturday, Jan Age Fjortoft sent supporters of the Reds into overdrive, offering a revealing statement on X that the Sweden international is now set to sign on at Anfield for a fee in the region of £130 million.

He stated: “Re: Alexander Isak Understand Isak – deal is done! Newcastle away at Leeds tonight, so nothing expected before that I am told. Fee expected to be around £130m Isak to Liverpool likely to happen very soon.”

However, there is always a twist in the tale somewhere, something that Mailsport’s Dominic King provided around half an hour after Fjortoft’s update on Isak’s situation.

The reporter contradicted claims that Isak is set for Liverpool, instead telling his followers that there is a chance Liverpool may not sign anyone else by Monday’s deadline.

Arne Slot’s men have always maintained hope they can land the Magpies striker, and that doesn’t look likely to change soon, even if some reports diverge from others on the current state of play.

With two extremes mentioned earlier, could the truth behind Isak’s proposed move to Merseyside from Newcastle be somewhere in the middle?

Tavolieri: Liverpool in advanced talks to land Alexander Isak

Once again by virtue of social media platform X, reputable journalist Sacha Tavolieri has claimed that Isak is now in advanced talks to join Liverpool and a full agreement should be found by Sunday.

Tavolieri stated: “NUFC and LFC now in advanced talks for Alexander Isak! As explained from Friday night to Saturday, the Reds have made an offer likely to convince the Magpies management. Sunday expected to be the day of the announcement of a full agreement. Matter of time.”

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Both Liverpool and Newcastle fans will be well-versed with his capabilities, which saw the Solna-born man register 27 goals and six assists inside 42 appearances last season.

Linking the play between Eddie Howe’s midfield and attack, Isak also managed to fashion 42 chances for his teammates on Premier League duty, albeit it doesn’t look like he will be continuing in the North East for much longer.

After months of speculation surrounding his future, Liverpool could now be about to make one of the biggest signings in recent English football memory should all go to plan.

Nathan McSweeney was a 12-year-old Queenslander when his recently-adopted South Australia last won the domestic one-day cricket competition.McSweeney remembers watching on television when SA captured the trophy in 2011-12 amid drama. Scores in the final against Tasmania were tied but SA was deemed the winner as they finished above the Tasmanians during the preliminary rounds.Related

• Kellaway's maiden one-day hundred leads Victoria into final

• Owen hammers 149 off 69 balls as Tasmania win high-scoring thriller

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South Australia haven’t won the one-day trophy since. But McSweeney hopes to end the state’s drought when hosting Victoria at Adelaide Oval on Saturday for the freshly-named Dean Jones Trophy.”We all know that it has been a long time since we have been able to win something,” McSweeney told reporters on Friday. “So it would be special if we could do it. Our preparation this week has been elite so hopefully it translates to some good performances.”SA also hold top position with two rounds remaining in the Sheffield Shield. The state hasn’t won the four-day competition since 1995-96.”We haven’t had the success we would have like over the last few years,” McSweeney said. “But at the start of the year, this is exactly where we wanted to be, so everyone is super excited.”And hopefully our best cricket is to come. We have got an obviously very important game tomorrow and hopefully a couple more shield games to finish the year.”In the one-day competition, both SA and Victoria won four games, with McSweeney’s side banking three bonus point triumphs to secure hosting rights.The states met only once, when ex-Victorian Mackenzie Harvey blasted an unbeaten 136 to lead SA to victory. Harvey, who shifted to Adelaide when cut from Victoria’s contracted player list at the end of last season, went on to top the run-scorer’s list in the tournament, with 311 at an average of 62.20.”He has been elite for us,” McSweeney said of the 24-year-old. “He is batting beautifully, knows the bowlers really well being from Victoria – hopefully he has got another good knock in him.”The cup competition was this season re-named the Dean Jones Trophy after the batting legend who died in 2020.”Dean Jones obviously played a lot for Victoria and did so much for Victorian cricket,” Victorian captain Will Sutherland said. “It is sad that Dean has passed away but I am sure a lot of the boys, and I, had a little bit to do with him – a superstar. And it just makes it extra special that it is named after him.”The player of the final will be awarded the Michael Bevan medal for the first time. South Australia allrounder Liam Scott was named the tournament’s player of the year earlier this week.

One-Day Cup final squds

South Australia Nathan McSweeney (capt), Jordan Buckingham, Brendan Doggett, Daniel Drew, Mackenzie Harvey, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Harry Nielsen, Lloyd Pope, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Henry ThorntonVictoria Will Sutherland (capt), Scott Boland, Harry Dixon, Sam Elliott, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Campbell Kellaway, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Ollie Peake, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle

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O Palmeiras junto a Betfair deram um importante passo em sua parceria em 2022, quando ampliaram o contrato de patrocínio. E, recentemente, uma das cláusulas do acordo firmado foi cumprida, já que a plataforma de palpites assumiu o naming rights do podcast oficial do clube, que agora será conhecido como Palmeiras Cast by Betfair. Além disso, a empresa terá sua marca exposta no centro de treinamento do time feminino do clube e também no Allianz Parque em partidas da equipe masculina.

“Fico muito feliz com o sucesso da nossa parceria com a Betfair. Ela tem sido fundamental para o crescimento do nosso time feminino e, agora, também estará presente em nosso mais novo produto de comunicação. Com o novo estúdio e a parceria da Betfair, tenho certeza de que o Palmeiras Cast continuará trazendo boas histórias para os nossos torcedores”, disse o diretor de marketing do Palmeiras, Everaldo Silva.

Ao que se sabe, a marca da Betfair estará exposta em vários locais, como no ônibus oficial do clube paulista, nas placas de publicidade e prismas que adornam o Allianz Parque e nas placas do centro de treinamento do time feminino em Vinhedo (SP). Ademais, a companhia continuará estampando seu logo no espaço máster do uniforme da equipe feminina, assim como permanecerá fazendo parte dos conteúdos digitais exclusivos do Alviverde.

De acordo com a diretora executiva da Betfair Internacional, Kim Daly, eles estão orgulhosos com sua parceria junto ao Verdão, que é um dos maiores clubes do Brasil. E que fazer parte do podcast ajudará a aproximar os torcedores a se aproximarem da empresa e do clube. “Fico muito feliz com o sucesso da nossa parceria com a Betfair. Ela tem sido fundamental para o crescimento do nosso time feminino e, agora, também estará presente em nosso mais novo produto de comunicação. Com o novo estúdio e a parceria da Betfair, tenho certeza de que o Palmeiras Cast continuará trazendo boas histórias para os nossos torcedores”, disse a executiva.

Sem sombras de dúvidas, a parceria com o Palmeiras dá uma visibilidade enorme para Betfair, que tem adotado estratégias cada vez mais ousadas para conquistar o público tupiniquim. Essas medidas são cada vez mais necessárias para uma marca do setor se destacar no mercado nacional, e algumas companhias oferecem algumas vantagens bem atrativas para os clientes, como o bônus gratuito listado no apostasesportivas24.com.

Com essa promoção, o usuário pode começar a sua caminhada no mundo dos pitacos sem gastar um centavo, dessa forma, ele pode testar os serviços de várias operadoras antes de depositar qualquer quantia em uma delas.

Cofres cheios

O Palmeiras continua em grande fase na temporada 2023, e nesta semana a equipe comandada por Abel Ferreira garantiu sua classificação para o mata-mata da Libertadores após vencer o Barcelona, do Equador, de virada. Com esse triunfo e a consequente classificação para as oitavas de final do torneio continental, o Palmeiras garantiu mais uma boa quantia em premiação, mais precisamente US$ 1,25 milhão (cerca de R$ 6,1 milhões), sendo que a vitória sobre a equipe equatoriana fez a equipe tupiniquim embolsar mais US$ 300 mil (aproximadamente R$ 1,47 milhões).

Somando esses valores com as quantias que o time já havia angariado antes da quinta rodada, o Verdão receberá pelo menos R$ 26 milhões em premiação nesta edição da Libertadores. Vale destacar, que a equipe paulista pode receber ainda mais da organizadora da competição, a Conmebol, já que a cada vitória e passagem de fase, o clube recebe uma quantia. Enquanto isso, na Copa do Brasil, o Verdão também já tem um prêmio acumulado interessante. Recentemente, o Alviverde garantiu sua vaga nas quartas de final do torneio nacional e já possui R$ 9,7 milhões em prêmios.

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher described one Reds player as “really poor” alongside Milos Kerkez during the 1-0 victory away to Burnley.

Liverpool leave it late to stun Burnley

Yet again, the Reds left it late to win a Premier League game on Sunday, with Mohamed Salah’s last-gasp penalty sealing a priceless win at Turf Moor.

Liverpool are yet to get going this season, in terms of performance level, but their ability to go until the very end of matches is proving to be a priceless asset to have, ensuring they top the table with maximum points.

One player who struggled at Burnley was Kerkez, who was booked for a shocking dive and then substituted in place of Andy Robertson before half-time, with Arne Slot admitting he couldn’t trust the Hungarian to avoid getting a second yellow card.

Speaking on commentary for Sky Sports, Carragher made it clear what he thought of Kerkez’s awful attempts to win a penalty, lambasting the left-back.

“I mean it was a dive, no doubt about that. I don’t think anybody in the stadium thought it wasn’t, it was so theatrical. I mean it was absolutely stupid, that. I don’t think there’s any contact there really, and he’s in a good position! I think he can hook his foot around that and get a cross in. As soon as I seen him make that run I thought he’s gonna be in a really good position on the byline.”

Carragher slams "really poor" Liverpool legend

Kerkez wasn’t the only player who felt the wrath of Carragher in the commentary box, however, with Salah also criticised for his current form, despite his match-winning penalty.

“He’s been really poor again. He just hasn’t really hit those heights of last season so far this season. It was always going to be difficult. But he doesn’t look at the races right now.”

In fairness to Carragher, he does have a valid point with Salah, even though the manner in which he buried the spot-kick was emphatic, outlining the strength of mind he possesses in big moments.

The Liverpool superstar has actually made a very disappointing start to the season, in terms of his all-round involvement in matches, and his general decision-making.

Granted, Salah is adjusting to a new system with Florian Wirtz in it, getting used to new teammates such as the German, Kerkez and Hugo Ekitiké, but the Reds need their iconic attacker to up his level in the coming weeks.

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At 33, it is only natural that some may begin to start writing Salah off, with his pace not what it was, but it is more likely that he is simply out of form. It should also never be forgotten that the passing of Diogo Jota could be affecting him, too, with all of Liverpool’s players still in the grieving process.